Site updates (timeline, database, manuscripts, etc.)

[mjp]

For now we'll just let everything pile up in one forum, and over time the categories we need to add will become apparent. I would rather wait and grow naturally than start with 20 different (empty) forums. [Edit 1/16 - Well, that didn't last long.]

For the first couple of weeks you'll probably notice little things changing here and there while we get things tweaked the way we want them to be.

As far as content goes there won't be any censorship. If someone is an asshole we'll just have to live with it. Just like in real life. On the other hand, if someone is dedicating their life to disrupting or ruining the forum -- well, there are ways to deal with them.

Anyone registering in the first week will be tagged "Charter Member," which entitles you to absolutely nothing. Well, maybe in the future we'll figure out a way to lord it over newbies. Member promotions run once an hour, so if you're not a charter member right away, you will be soon.

What else? I don't know, you tell me.

 

[Father Luke]

Father Luke - Charter Member

Has a nice ring to it

Dont'cha think?

Heh heh
I love it...

Okay,
Father Luke

 

[mjp]

Hey, we take what we can get.

 

[Domator]

hello!

Hello!
I'm the latest user here. I'm from Poland and I'm fan of Bukowski's book. In Poland we have just 10 Bukowski's novels and stories and 3 poems books.

Salute!
Domator

P.S Sorry for my english. Correct me :)

 

[hoochmonkey9]

mjp,
forgot to thank you for doing this.
thank you. sincerely.

 

[mjp]

Don't thank me. I do everything for selfish reasons. Heh. I thank you all for contributing.

 

[cirerita]

how's the database going? I could help you out, you know. I might take a look at my files and sent you some unpublished stuff (the titles and so on).

 

[Domator]

And I can send to you Bukowski's covers from Poland. You can put it on Miscellany. What do you think?

 

[mjp]

Sure, I'll take anything. Sometimes it kind of piles up and then I do it in bunches, so you might not see it up there right away. But by all means, send anything you've got. Titles of unpublished works are good, copies of the manuscripts are better. But I'll take just the titles too.

The database - that needs to be redone. Not just the interface (which is sucky) but the database itself. I've learned a lot about designing databases since I started that monster, and it could be a lot more efficient and useful. At 5600 lines or whatever it is, it's a bit of a chore reconfiguring it. But I'm working on it.

The database is about the only thing Martin didn't scream at me about, so I assume they used it themselves. ;)

 

[cirerita]

if he did, he wasn't too good at it. there are REPEATED poems in the last 5-6 books of poems.
In fact, when I interviewed him, he acknolewged that (it also happened in previous collections in the 90's) by saying they were "slips". oh, well....

 

[mjp]

I have a lot to say about Martin, but that's for another day in another thread (or ten).

 

[mjp]

This grey place

I designed this site on a regular CRT monitor and it looks fine, but I'm here today looking at it on the laptop for the first time and all the grey just looks like shit. Anyone else with an LCD monitor find it all looks like a bland, metallic mess? I'm also open to the idea that my old laptop isn't what it used to be...but whatever it is, I'm not digging this.

 

[Charlie]

I'm not on an LCD and it still looks shit. No offense, but I would agree that it needs a bit of redesign.

 

[Father Luke]

I have three monitors. Two CRT monitors and one LCD.

I like the looks on all three.

Okay,
Father Luke

 

[cirerita]

it's kinda metallic, yep, but not that bad.

grey is ok, though. you don't wan't yellow here, right?

 

[hoochmonkey9]

wasn't yellow Buk's favourite colour?

 

[David Janko]

Looks okay to me. Do we really want this place to be bright? Grey seems to fit.

 

[hank solo]

wasn't yellow Buk's favourite colour?

yeah it was.

The grey looks ok. Maybe just increase the contrast between the menu text and the background grey a little.

Now I think about it, I've never liked that photo of Buk with the typer at his chest. Maybe I'd like one of the original signed prints, but other than that...

Maybe you could call on Mrs B Martin to spruce it up design-wise... ho ho.. :p

 

[mjp]

Maybe you could call on Mrs B Martin to spruce it up design-wise... ho ho.. :p

Ha! Yeah, let me get her on the phone.

I think maybe stick with the grey, but more contrast, yes. We need more contrast, man!

 

[hank solo]

yeah baby. contrast is where its AT.

how about this photo:

http://free.art.pl/bukowski/fot_buk01.jpg

'borrowed' from http://free.art.pl/bukowski/fotografie.html

 

[Charlie]

Yeah, use Hank Solo's pic. That's a good one. Buk with the typer at his chest feels like a parody, an in-joke. We need the cool Hank. Maybe even use one with him slamming back a beer.

 

[mjp]

Hmm, I think the pictures of him drinking beer are more parody than holding the typer. He tilted the bottle up almost vertically and kept it up there for along time, and in films when you see him bring it down, most times you can see he's hardly swallowed any beer at all. Performance. Show.

The typewriter on the other hand, he did love, and I don't think he was trying to be goofy or ironic in that picture at all. But the only one who really knows is six feet under now, so it's all speculation. It's unique among the same old pictures you always see. Maybe something will replace it down the road, but I'm sticking with it for now.

 

[Domator]

'borrowed' from http://free.art.pl/bukowski/fotografie.html

Nice, it's polish site :) But it's small ...

 

[Erik]

Greyness works fine for me.

Gotta admit I liked the typer-photo too. Never seen it before,first thought it was an accordion. Made me think of "Play the piano drunk..."

Another idea: when you choose "send shortcut to the desktop" it would be nice if a Buk-icon were used to mark the shortcut.
You could use one of Buk's simple drawaings for example.... a crow, a dog, or a bottle...

 

[mjp]

Another idea: when you choose "send shortcut to the desktop" it would be nice if a Buk-icon were used to mark the shortcut.
You could use one of Buk's simple drawaings for example.... a crow, a dog, or a bottle...

Good idea. I'll see what I can work up as a browser favorite and a file icon.

 

[cirerita]

you reduced the contrast too much, I think. now it's harder to see whether there's a new reply in a thead or not.

 

[mjp]

Hmm. Threads with a new post should be bold:

And from the main page, forums with new threads have a colored icon. If there are no new threads the icon is grey.

 

[HenryChinaski]

what about different skins for the board?
like a default and then like two other different color shemes. that would pwn.

 

[mjp]

It would be kind of hard to offer significantly different themes and still integrate with the site navigation.

 

[HenryChinaski]

true, I didn't think of that. I guess that's why you're the smart one and I just read Bukowski, Huh. Dude I'd post here even if the the color scheme was pink on purple. It doesnt really matter.